why won't my solar USB charger work? [CLOSED]

[(unknown)]

I bought some materials a while ago to make a solar USB charger.  I got

2. - 4.5 volt 220ma solar panels
   
1. - 7805 (5 volt regulator)
   
1. - USB extension cord (for the female port)
   
   

I wired the panels in series for about 9 volts.  This worked.  Then I connected the panels to the regulator. This also worked.  Them I took the USB cable and cut off the male end.  I then attached the red wire from the USB extension cord ( female side) to the positive output pin of it regulator.  Then I attached the black wire from the USB to the negative of my regulator.  Then I tested it with an iPod.  I hooked up the iPod via the USB cable.  At first, the iPod said it was charging, but like 3 seconds later, it said it wasn't charging ( no clouds etc).  So i though it needed more power.  I then unattached the USB from the regulator.  And I took the male end of the USB cable and plugged it into my iPod's wall charger.  I then hooked the black to the black and red to red on the male and female USB ends.  Then I hooked the iPod to the extension cable and the same thing happened.  I then attached the green and white wires in the same fashion.  Then it worked fine. So I measured the voltage across the green and white wires and got .5 volts. So what do I do? I saw Many accounts of this working but my version didn't.  They didn't have to attach the green and white to anything.  Please help?

Thanks

Hardly topical. Answered. [CLOSED]

[GlutealCleft]

Somewhere along the firmware revision history, the iPod stopped charging off of a setup like you describe.  It expects to see something on the data lines before it will charge.

The good news is that all you need are some resistors.  Some folks pull D- high and D+ low, some pull D- low and D+ high, some use a pair of voltage dividers to take each of them half-way.

I don't have an actual iPod, so I can't comment which will work for you.  Start with something like 100k resistors, and try pulling the various schemes there.  If it doesn't work, try something around 15k.